The Truck Scene Do Over
by teamjacob0729
Summary: What if Bella didn't get out of the truck after the cliff dive? A/U BxJ *Changed to an M rating for coarse language. COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1

**Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer.**

**Bella was always so timid, or some say spineless. Maybe she was just so self-deprecating she couldn't see herself clearly. Jacob was carefree and happy-go-lucky. How did that fit with a character that was so quick to give up and be down on himself?**

**I think a turning point in this story could have been right when Bella and Jacob returned to her house and he smelled a vampire. She was so torn right in that moment. Unsure of where her life was headed. I also think it was too convenient that Sam, Jared, Embry and Paul didn't know what the Cullens smelled like. Really? They patrolled the forest for all that time. Too tidy of a box. **

**A/U**

JPOV

How do I leave her here in this house alone after what has happened today? Does she really think I am so blind that I don't know what is going on with her? She jumped off a cliff for crying out loud. In the middle of a storm, no less. I don't know what was going through her mind, but I'm going to have to do something drastic soon with this girl.

As I pull up in front of the old weathered white house I drew a deep breath and parked. We'd just spent the afternoon together asleep on the couch. Harry had died. There was a psychotic vampire after Bella. It was all together perfect. Ha. Not.

"Bells," I said at the same time she turned my way. I could tell something was running through her mind. As always, she was overthinking everything. We were teenagers for crying out loud and she acted like we had to make our entire life plan right now.

She glanced up at my face and held my stare. I gave her a tight smile and she laid her head on my shoulder.

"Are you okay?" I ask her for at least the 20th time since we left the cliffs.

"No," she whispered back, barely a breath.

"What's going on with you? I mean, really going on? I know that Edward and the Cullen's moved away, but that was 5 months ago. It's time to pull yourself together, you know?" I said back, staring out the window, not wanting to look her in the eyes afraid of how she'd take my directness.

"I'm 16 and your 18. Why do we have to be committed to a decision that will last us a lifetime right now? Do people really need to settle down and get married at our age? Do they all decide what career they want to have until they retire? It's okay for plans to change."

"Jake…I thought he was my forever," she said sadly.

"Bells, most teenagers are running around trying to figure out what they're going to do next Friday. I think you need to take things a little less seriously for a while," I leaned my head down and rested it on hers, and then I lifted my arm and rested it across her legs.

We sat in silence for a while, both consumed with our thoughts. It was killing me having no idea what she was thinking about the things I said to her, but I didn't want to rush her either. I know what a freaking over-thinker she is. It can be a tad annoying sometimes, like now. Yet, I knew if I pushed her to a decision, I'd be unhappy with the one she'd make.

"You want to go for a ride?" I asked her impulsively. I turned my body a little in the seat and smiled at her, hoping to get her to say yes.

"What? Like now? When I'm all gross and covered with salt water?" she questioned.

"We don't have to get out anywhere public. Come on, go with me," I pushed her.

"What about Victoria?" she replied, as she killed my hope. Damn.

"Wherever we go, the wolves have to follow anyway. We won't go far. Say yes. Please," I gave her my best puppy dog eyes, and pushed my lower lip out to make it as pathetic as possible.

She snorted and then nodded her consent. Awesome!

I shifted the truck into gear and pulled back out on the road. I wasn't sure where we were going to go, but I wasn't ready to leave her. Of course, the safest place was La Push, so I turned back and headed that way.

After I drove down the main road, inspiration struck. I quickly turned onto a side road and headed toward a place I knew Bella had never been. The truck wouldn't make it off the paved road, so I parked and hopped out. I reached behind the seat and grabbed a hoodie I knew that Bella kept there for emergencies.

We met at the front of the truck and I heard crunching in the woods.

"Hang on a sec, somebody's coming," I said.

I heard a gasp from Bella so I quickly reassured her it was pack. Right after that, Paul walked out of the woods, a solemn look on his face. He jerked his head to the side to let me know he wanted to talk to me away from Bella.

"Wait in the truck while I talk to Paul, okay?" I looked at her and could hear her heart racing. I kissed the top of her head and heard her heart skip a beat. She sat back down and closed the door.

We walked about 10 feet away, and I asked him what the heck was up.

"We smelled a Cullen at the Swan's house," he looked away.

"Are you kidding me? Who was it? Was it _him_?" I asked, worried.

"No, it's a female. Jared and Sam are checking it out but Sam ordered me to stick to you guys like glue. But you're about to take her to 'Make out Point' so I'm not sure how close I want to get right now," he smirked at me.

"Don't worry, dude, I'm not gonna interfere with your moves, okay?"

"You're a dick, Paul, but thanks for letting me know," I said, then gave him a swift punch to the arm.

"Back at you, fucker," he loped off, as I headed back to get Bella out of the truck.

I grabbed her hand and led her up the sandy path to the place Paul was calling "make out point." Only a perv like him would say something like that. Not like I wouldn't make out with her if I could…of course, this got me started on the path of dreaming.

When we reached the top, Bella finally spoke. "Where are we? It's pretty dark."

I yanked the cover off a pile of wood and pulled my zippo out of my pocket to light the kindling that was under the wood already stacked in the fire pit. The pack used this sometimes but it was only us. We always had it ready to use. It took a bit of fussing to get it going, but finally we had a nice warm fire. I sat on the ground against the log Bella was perched on.

Her thigh was beside my head so I leaned over and rested it against her. Her fingers started trailing their way through my hair. I wrapped my hand around her ankle and brushed my fingers up under the edge of her jeans.

It was easy sitting there staring at the fire. It was hypnotic in its own way. The flames licking up the logs, the blue waves rolling up and down the logs. The bright red of the log as it glowed and the smoke as it billowed over the pile.

Suddenly, the logs shifted and fell down further into the pit. I reluctantly let go of her leg and leaned to grab some more logs to toss onto the fire. Naturally, one rolled and was leaning out of the pit. I had to get up and shove it back in.

Though, when I sat back I was surprised to find that Bella had moved onto the ground so I was sitting beside her now.

"Thanks for bringing me here. Are you planning on telling me what's going on with Paul?" she asked.

I sighed and thought about what to say. I hated lying to her but was there really anything to say at this moment.

"Can I wait until I know more?" I stared at her, gauging her response to my answer.

"What does that mean? I'll wait if you want me to, but that's a weird answer."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**I changed the rating to M. Realized these potty mouth characters might get into trouble under a T rating. I've also altered the timeline a little. Sorry, I've read so much FF, it's really hard to remember. Edward left in September after Bella's birthday and returns in March, so about six months. I said five. Close enough, I say!**

I stared into the flames, lost in thought about what I should tell Bells. Either way, it would change the mood. Damn bloodsuckers have messed with my life more ways than one.

I decided to give her some of the information because no one had seen a Cullen, so I didn't want to get her hopes up. I knew she would wish it was _him_. I let a huge breath out.

"They found a scent at your house tonight," I said.

"W..wa…was it Victoria?" she stuttered, her heartbeat racing.

"I don't know for sure who it was and I'm here with you so I can't go check it out."

"Is Charlie okay?" she worried next.

"As far as I know. He was at the hospital with Sue, remember?"

"Yeah, I guess that seems like days ago, not hours ago. I can't believe Harry died. He's going to be so sad. Do you know if he's going to go back to your house or mine? I don't want him going back home if there's a vampire there," she stood starting to panic about her dad.

To be honest, I was kind of relieved this was her track of worry, not wondering if it was Edward. I felt like a shitty friend for letting her take that line of thought. The pack had been patrolling the border for almost a year, starting with Sam. If he said it was a Cullen female, then I was sure it was.

"Bells, what if it was another vamp altogether?" I timidly asked.

She rested on the log and wrapped her arms around her chest. I hated when she did that, acting like she would fall apart without him. I was here in front of her, I could help her keep herself together. In fact, I had been since the day she showed up with those bikes.

"Come here," I whispered to her. She sat up a little and leaned my way. I put my arm around her and pulled her into me.

"What would I do if he came back, Jake? He left me. I wasn't good enough for him-for them. Why would they come back? It doesn't make sense. I'm sure it's not a Cullen. I didn't even deserve a good-bye."

"Of course you're good enough. He's the one that isn't good enough for you. You're one of my best friends. And you totally deserved a good-bye. Everybody deserves it."

She started sniffling and I could feel her tears soaking into my t-shirt. I didn't say anything else to her, just let her cry it all out. It took her a while.

I heard twigs popping in the distance. Paul must be checking up on us. Douche.

"What Paul?" I called out into the night.

"Sam says that he needs you guys to go back to his house. Sorry to interrupt," he shouted back.

Bella sat up, uncomfortable with Paul's assumption. Asshole. I owed him a good shot to the back later. Right between his shoulder blades. Or a good kidney shot.

"Let's go, Bells," I said, dumping a bucket of sand over the fire smothering the flames. Just like my night.

Trying to cheer her up, I told her to stand on the log. I stood in front of her and told her to hop on. I carried her down the cliffs on my back, dodging logs and shrubs, making her scream with laughter as she clung onto me. I wouldn't let her fall and I enjoyed the feel of her so close to me.

We made it down to the bottom and I let her slide down my back, making sure I didn't moan out loud. I'd die of embarrassment, and was pretty sure she would too.

We got in her old clunker and I drove it to Sam's wondering what had happened. Bella didn't say anything and I didn't either.

There was a lot of activity happening, which was unusual for this time of night. Of course, Leah and Seth had just phased and Sam was dealing with that mess. Quil and Embry met us on the porch.

"Hey, dude. What's happening?" Quil asked lasciviously, wiggling his eyebrows. I punched him in the balls and kept walking. What was with them tonight?

Sam told everyone to settle down as soon as we walked in. I noticed Jared and Paul were absent but Leah and Seth were sitting on the couch looking uncomfortable.

"What the hell, Sam? You know what could happen and you let them inside?" I balked, shocked he would do such a stupid thing.

"They're fine, Jake. They're sadder than anything else right now." Then he turned, effectively ending the discussion.

I stood with my body between them and Bella. I wouldn't risk her safety. As I glanced around I noticed Emily wasn't in the room either. Real nice, Sam.

We all waited for Sam to start and he dove right in unexpectedly.

"We had a confrontation with a Cullen at Bella's house tonight." I heard her gasp behind me and step up next to me. Of course, her arms were already tangling themselves around her stomach.

"It was Alice Cullen. She said she had a vision that Bella killed herself cliff diving." He turned to look at her. She shrank under his dark glare. I moved closer to her and pulled her against my chest, my arms wrapping around her upper chest.

"What did you tell her?" Bella asked timidly.

"I told her you were fine and were out with a friend. She was adamant that your future had disappeared. It got into a heated argument. I told her I had no reason to lie to her and that if you wanted to call her, I would leave it up to you."

Bella immediately reached into her hoodie and pulled her ancient flip phone out of the pocket. She stepped into the kitchen and I could hear the phone ringing on the other end. My heart sank into my stomach. Damn, she'd probably be leaving as soon as she hung up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Alice, hey it's me," she scratched out.

"Bella! Are you okay? Did you jump? What happened to you?"

"I'm fine. Not hurt at all, just tired. I was out for fun. Cliff diving, lots of people do it you know. A lot has gone on today. What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I came back because I thought you were going to kill yourself and I was going to try to stop you. Then I ran into some _trouble,_ if you know what I mean, and they wouldn't let me see you. I was worried about you."

"Well, you weren't all that worried about me when you left without so much as a good-bye were you?" Bella grumbled.

"I'm really sorry about that, Bella. Are you okay?"

"No. I'm not okay." The wolves all looked at me, the question on their faces clear. Did she try to kill herself or was she curious about cliff diving? I shrugged. I wasn't really sure.

"Listen, Alice. One of my dad's best friends died today and there's a crazed vampire after me. I'm so tired, I'm falling asleep on my feet. Thanks for coming to make sure I didn't kill myself. I didn't. I've gotta go."

I walked into the kitchen to check on her. I could hear her breath hitch, and I knew she was starting to cry.

"Want me to take you home?" I offered.

"Can I go back to your house? I want to see Charlie and I think he'd like to see Billy. I can text him to go there."

"Sure, sure," I responded, walking back into the living room. "We're going to leave if you didn't have anything else." Sam shook his head no.

Bella was already waiting by the front door, so I followed her out to the red beast. Instead of going to the passenger side, she waited by the driver door. When I opened it, she climbed in and scooted over to the middle seat. I hopped in and started it up, driving the short distance back to my house. After I pulled forward, she rested her head against my shoulder. She let out a loud breath.

"What's up?" I asked.

"Would you be upset with me if I wanted to go see her tomorrow?" She leaned up and looked at me.

"It's your life. I'm not going to tell you what to do. Do I wish you wouldn't? Of course, but I'm not going to stop you," I told her honestly.

"Okay. Tomorrow I'll go."

I pulled up in front of my house. I hesitated before getting out.

"Thanks for going with me to the cliffs tonight. I enjoyed hanging out."

"You're welcome, Jake. I liked relaxing by the fire, it was peaceful. I haven't felt peaceful very much lately. To be honest, when I do, I'm always with you." My heart skipped a beat.

"Do you want to take a shower? I can give you something to wear. I'm sure it'll be 10 sizes too big, but it's better than what you have on," I gestured to the salt streaks on her jeans.

"That sounds really good. Go," she said, as she pushed me toward the door and slid out behind me. I grabbed her hand and walked into the house.

"Dad?" I called out, looking around for him. I saw him sitting at the kitchen table with a mug in his hands. He looked up at me with tears in his eyes.

"Jake. Bella. I thought you were going to take Bella home?" he said, looking a little confused.

"Yeah, something came up and she wanted to come here. Charlie's going to be here when he gets done at the hospital."

My dad just nodded, lifting his mug and taking a sip of what I imagined was probably tea.

"Bella's gotta get a shower, so I'm going to try to find some clothes she can borrow while I wash hers," I told him as I walked out of the room. I saw Bells standing in the living room waiting on me. I walked to the linen closet and found the best towels we had for her. I handed them to her and she walked to the bathroom and closed the door.

I hunted around in my bedroom for something that I thought she could wear. I found some gym shorts from just before I phased. They'd still be huge but at least they had strings to tie. I dug out a T-shirt from the bottom of my dresser drawer. Then I quickly started shoving things off the floor and under the bed and into the closet. I hadn't been home much lately, so when I was, cleaning up was the least of my priorities.

I hung the clothes on the bathroom door handle and went into the kitchen with my dad. My stomach was growling big time, so I raided the fridge and the pantry. I decided to throw together some nachos. I browned a package of ground beef and warmed the jar of queso. Once the meat was ready, Bella walked into the room with the towel wrapped around her hair.

She looked hilarious in my too large clothes and I chuckled when I saw her. She laughed in return, knowing she looked like a little kid. "Stop laughing at me!" Then she grabbed a chip off the plate I had put out for her. "Don't make me too much, I'm not that hungry."

"Bells, we haven't eaten all day. How are you not hungry? I could practically eat a whole cow."

"Jake, you could eat a whole cow right after you finished off an entire pig."

I feigned heartache, holding both hands over my heart and crashing back into the counter. "I'm hurt. I'm hurt."

"Yeah, right. I think they put out an alert about the endangerment of animals since you guys started phasing."

I patted my flat stomach. "I'm a growing boy. I need protein," I said, my eyes dancing.

She grabbed the serving spoon and sprinkled some meat and queso on her chips. Then she stepped over to the table, set the plate down, and gave Billy another hug.

"Thanks for letting me hang out here," she told him quietly.

"Bella, you are always welcome here. Anytime. Jake here might throw me out if I didn't let you come here," he joked. I gave him a dirty look.

She blushed a light shade of pink. "I wouldn't know what to do with myself sometimes without him," she admitted. Her face blossomed into a deeper shade of red at her honesty. I knew that though. I knew that our friendship had helped her.

We had barely finished eating when an exhausted looking Charlie walked in the door.

Bella got up and met him in the living room for an unusually long hug. "Hey, dad. I'm so sorry to hear about Harry."

"Thanks, Bells. Sorry I didn't make it home for dinner tonight."

"It's okay. Jake cooked. We left you some if you're hungry."

"Jake cooked?" he asked, looking to me. I made a look of mock horror and Bella laughed.

"He made nachos. All he had to do was reheat some cheese and cook the ground beef. I did it when I was ten."

I stood up and made him a plate of food. Charlie washed his hands and sat down at the table. He started nibbling on the food, but I could tell he wasn't all that hungry.

"Eat what you want, Charlie. It doesn't matter," I reassured him.

When Charlie was done he asked Bella if she wanted to follow him home. She asked if he cared if she stayed here. She was too tired to drive home. He told her whatever she wanted to do was fine. She made him promise to text her when he got home. I watched Bells watch Charlie drive away before she came back to the kitchen.

"I'm really tired. Can I get some blankets to make up the couch?" she asked me.

"No way. I'll take the couch, you sleep in my bed."

She turned and walked into my room. I followed her to grab a pillow off my bed.

"Will you stay and talk to me for a little while?" she asked super soft.

"Of course," I told her. I waited for her to climb over and sat on the edge of the bed, then turned leaning my back against the wall. I put the pillow behind my back. "What are you thinking about?"

"Did you really mean what you said earlier in the truck?" she asked me.

"What did I say?" I asked, racking my brain.

"That most teenagers are just figuring out what they want to do next Friday?" she mimicked me, but in a playful way.

"I did. You're too serious. It's a good thing sometimes. But you don't have to plan the rest of your life today. You can take things as they come. Besides, isn't there a saying about the best laid plans anyway?" I could never remember that phrase.

She chuckled, the book nerd would know I was sure. "It's 'the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.'"

"Yeah, well, exactly. You can still live your life without him. In fact, time is going on and has been."

"I know. It's hard. Now, Alice shows up out of nowhere. The cliff dive was…was…"

"Stupid," I finished for her.

"Exhilarating." She paused and I waited for her. "I'd like to do something that would make me feel alive."

"What did you have in mind?" I asked, looking down at her.

She looked up at me and stared into my eyes. Her eyes darted back and forth between mine and I could tell she was thinking, debating, over-thinking like always. I started leaning toward her, wondering if she was going to let me kiss her.

I got about a centimeter from her lips and stopped, staring into her beautiful brown eyes, letting her come to me if she wanted. I could tell she wasn't sure. Then finally, she closed her eyes and put her lips softly on mine. I kissed her back, chastely, briefly. Once, twice and pulled back a little. It was she who kissed me again.

"Does that make you feel alive?" I whispered.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**Rated M**

**Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer. Thanks so much for stopping by. Hope you enjoy it. Been having some brain blockage, but I think I broke through it a bit.**

In the morning, I woke to the reality of a long-time dream. I opened my eyes and let them trace over Bella's face. Even in her sleep, she was still less than peaceful-a slight grimace remained on her lips. I wondered what was bringing her down. Carefully, I scooted off the bed and went into my dad's room to help him get up.

"Hey, Dad," I greeted him as I walked into his bedroom. I grabbed the clothes he had already laid out the night before and brought them over to the bed.

"Jake, how are you? How's Bella?"

"She's still sleeping."

"Don't let Charlie know she slept with you all night. I'll never hear the end it," he smiled as he grabbed his shirt and pulled it over his head.

I could feel a blush heat my cheeks but I didn't say anything. If I denied that anything happened, he would still think something did. It was kind of a lose/lose situation.

"I know you guys didn't have sex, Jake. You're a better man than that," he reassured me.

"Do you need anything else?" I asked him, trying to get away from this conversation as fast as possible.

"Yes, I need you to promise me that if it ever gets like that, you'll be smart about it," he said, putting the last nail in the coffin.

"Dad! Oh my gosh. I promise. Can I please go now?"

He chuckled and nodded his head.

_What is going on around here?_ I wondered. First Paul, then Quil and now my dad. They were all under the assumption that Bella and I were something more, but what had changed to make them think that all of the sudden?

In the kitchen, I glanced around debating about breakfast. Should I cook something nice for Bella or go casual and make a bowl of cereal? Ugh. My stomach growled with hunger pains, so I decided I was having a bowl of cereal and giving Bella a choice when she woke up. I reached for the box of Cap'n Crunch on top of the fridge and poured some in my bowl with milk. I was starting my second bowl, when Bella finally crept out of my room.

She smiled at me when she saw me, but looked down right after. _Interesting_, I thought. Is she feeling bad about last night's kiss now? Damn. It was nice and I was looking forward to more. Maybe she wasn't ready for more or maybe she didn't like it at all? I hated being uncertain. It wasn't me at all.

"Good morning," she said, breaking me out of my inner monologue.

"Morning," I answered around my cereal. I finished chewing to offer to cook her breakfast, but she was already pouring herself a bowl of cereal.

"I can make you something if you want."

"Cereal's fine. I don't mind."

She sat opposite me and began eating her cereal. She kept scooping milk soaked scoops to the top and then stirring it around. I sat, with my spoon in the air, dripping onto the table staring at her strange eating ritual. Finally, she glanced up at me watching her.

"What?" she asked.

"Find anything interesting in there?" I joked.

"Well, they do say Cap'n Crunch is in a box right?" she joked back. We both laughed. It broke the nervous tension in the room. I went back to filling my bottomless stomach.

"So, I was thinking about calling Alice when I head home this morning. To see if she can meet me at my house," she said softly, looking back down at her bowl.

"Okay."

"Okay?" she asked, looking up.

"I told you I wouldn't stop you. I'm not your keeper, Bells. I'm your friend."

"Well, how would you feel about going with me?"

I stopped chewing for a minute and stared at her. Me, werewolf, with a vampire in her house? Probably not a great idea, especially since things got heated last night. I choked a little but swallowed the bite down.

"I'm not so sure about being in a house with a vampire, Bells. You know me and I don't know if I can do that."

She sighed. "What if we sat on the back porch instead? Do you think if there was space so it wasn't too confining?" Her eyes pleaded silently with me. I didn't understand why she wanted to meet with the vamp anyway. They'd all but abandoned her in the woods and now she shows up suddenly. It was weird.

"I'll try. That's all I can promise. I can stay in the woods if things don't work out. Why do you want me to go? Are you worried about her hurting you or something?

"No! Of course not. But," she paused, turning her face down, hiding it behind her hair. I waited with bated breath for her to finish the sentence. When she didn't move or give any indication she was going to finish her sentence, I prodded her.

"But, what?"

A whoosh of air blew out of her mouth. She ran her hands through her sleep tangled hair.

"I feel safer with you near me," she admitted, not raising her head still. I waited the longest few minutes of silence in my life.

"Oh," I responded dumbly. Well, cool! I got up slowly from my chair and made my way around the table. Bella sat with her elbows on the edge of the table her fingers grasping her hair as she kept her face down. I squatted down beside her, trying to look up under her hair to her face. I was too tall, and her hair was too long.

"Bells, I'll go. Okay? I'll go," I whispered beside her. I sucked in a deep breath and decided it was time to invoke a little confidence for once. I placed my palm on her knee, gently squeezing. One small, cool hand reached down and I held my breath as she placed her hand on top of mine, thinking she would push me away.

"Thanks, Jake," she squeezed back once. "I'm going to try harder to be a teenager. Okay? For you, I'm going to try." I melted at her words. But I didn't want her to do it for me.

"No, honey. I want you to do it for _you_. We can try it together. We've both had a lot of responsibility for people our age," I pulled the chair next to her out and sat in it. She finally sat up and looked at me, but her hand remained on top of mine. I took a risk and slid it up her thigh, just a little bit, nothing too crazy. "We don't have to map out our whole lives yet. Let's take it one day at a time? How's that sound?"

"Sounds good."

I leaned in, looking at her lips, remembering how soft and perfect they'd felt last night when she leaned in for that kiss. Her eyes widened in panic and I sat back, feeling that confidence waver.

"Sorry, morning breath. I haven't brushed my teeth yet," she held her fingers in front of her mouth, thinking she was blocking any smell coming my way. Guess I shouldn't tell her I could smell a lot of scents in the room and her breath wouldn't bother me for one quick kiss.

I stood from the chair and leaned down and kissed the top of her head instead, taking a quick sniff while I was there. Her natural scent under the smell of my cheap shampoo was something I would always love. She giggled, knowing what I'd just done.

"You smell good," I admitted honestly, as I washed my breakfast dishes. I grabbed a grapefruit out of the fridge and sliced it up for my dad. I'd always enjoyed cutting each little section and watching him dig each part out since I was little. I don't know why, it was one of those things. I carried the bowl of fruit and a cup of iced tea to his room.

"Breakfast is here. I'm going to go with Bella to her house. Alice Cullen wanted to see her and she wants me to go with her," I told him.

"Cullen? What are they doing back here?" he asked.

I filled him in on everything that had happened the night before, downplaying Bella's cliff dive. He was leery of the vampire being back and told me a few questions I should ask her. He reminded me of the key points of the treaty and that I should remain in control. He also reminded me of Sam and Emily, and that if I felt like I was going to shift, I had better run like hell away from Bella. I promised him I would be careful.

When I went back out in the kitchen, Bella had left the table, and her clean bowl was in the drainer with mine. I listened for her and could hear her fiddling around in the bathroom. I walked closer to the door.

"There's a new toothbrush under the sink if you want to open it," I told her. I could hear the cabinet open and her rip into the package. I went back to the laundry room and grabbed her clean clothes from the dryer and carried them back to the bathroom. I knocked lightly and told her I had her clothes. She opened the door, with the toothbrush stuck in her mouth. I smiled at her and held the clothes out.

I walked away, shaking thoughts of how cute she looked in my clothes, with her messy hair. I searched around for some semi-clean jeans and a t-shirt. If I was meeting with a bloodsucker, I wanted to be covered up. Hopefully I wouldn't burst out of them, I didn't have a lot of jeans.

Bella called Alice on our way back to her house. She let her know that I was coming and the plan was to sit on the back porch for everybody's comfort. Alice got a little snarky, saying she didn't need a babysitter, and that she was concerned about Bella's choice of company. Bella wavered, but when I put my hand on her leg, she spoke up for herself.

"I don't think you do need a babysitter. He's there for me. He's my friend and has been there for me for the last couple of months. You of all people should _know_ that, right? Since you can see every choice I make. We'll be there soon," Bella said, hanging up the phone.

"I don't understand why she's so concerned about me being with you. She wasn't worried when I was with them."

I didn't want to keep downing the other 'person' that Bella claimed was her best friend for so long. So I took my dad's sage advice and didn't say anything since I had nothing nice to say.

We pulled up in front of Bella and Charlie's house and I shut off the engine. I inhaled deeply when we got out, but I could only smell the old scent from last night. Sam walked out of the tree line and met us in the front yard.

"What's going on, Jake?" he asked.

"Bella agreed to see Alice here. She asked me to come with her. But I told her I needed to stay outside, so we're doing it on the back porch," I informed him.

"I'll stay close by," he stated, then turned to speak to Bella. "You need to be careful. If Jake starts getting upset or shaking, you need to get away from him. You have to Bella. It'll hurt us all if he phases too close to you."

She nodded her head in agreement and he went back into the trees.

"I need to change into my own clothes," Bella said and we went into the house, and she went upstairs to her room. I paced the living room, giving myself a pep talk for the chat we were about to have.

Bella came down with her hair brushed out, wearing fresh jeans and a long sleeve shirt. She grabbed a different pair of shoes and sat down on the couch to put them on. It wasn't much longer that I could hear the car out front, so I told Bella that Alice had arrived. I went out the back door and stood against the railing, leaving myself ample space.

The little vampire flashed around the corner and smiled widely at Bella. "I missed you so much!" Alice said, as she reached out for a hug. Bella hugged her and stepped back.

"I've missed you too, Alice. How've you been? I have about a million and one questions to ask you," she told her.

"I've been good. I have a lot of questions for you too. For starters, how are you blocking my visions? I still can't see you, at all."

"I have no idea why you can't see me. But as you can see now, I'm fine," Bella told her, gesturing down her body. Bella stepped closer to me. I could hear her heart beat speed up just a bit and wondered why. I didn't move from my perch. "Where have you been? Where is everybody else? Are you here to stay? When did you get here? Why didn't you call me if you thought I was going to kill myself? Didn't you see how miserable I was for months? Why didn't you call me then?" Bella fired off one question after the other, not giving the little pixie a chance to answer any of them.

Well, that explained the racing heart beat…

"Bella, slow down for a second. Let me answer at least some of those things! We've been in Alaska with the Denalis, well most of us anyway. Rose and Emmett have done a little honeymooning of their own. Edward," Bella's heart beat stuttered when Alice dropped his name so heartlessly. Of course, we both heard it with our 'super hearing.' She continued on.

"Edward has been traveling in the South and in South America. I'm the only one here. As soon as I had the vision, I came straight here. I guess I didn't call because I hadn't and I wasn't sure if that would make things worse. I haven't been seeing much of you. But I haven't been trying to either. When we left, Edward asked me to stop looking into your future."

Bella sucked in a harsh breath. I couldn't take it anymore. I walked up behind her and placed my hands on her shoulders, rubbing my hands side to side. Her breathing evened out and her heart rate calmed back down. I could smell the tears that were leaking out. I could imagine what she was thinking. Edward had left her behind and didn't want to know a thing about what happened to her. She had spent so much time grieving the loss of him and he was trying to forget her. Dickhead.

"Bella, I think you're misunderstanding. He wanted you to move on with your life, without interference from us. If I envisioned every trip or fall you had, it would make us all miserable, wanting to race back to you and save you from yourself. Even though I didn't try to have visions of you, it's not always something I can control. Lately, I had seen you happy, with this guy. Though, he wasn't as filled out and his hair was longer," she pointed to me.

"That was before the change," I said.

"Hmm," Alice said, I could see her considering that. "When was your change? How long ago?"

"About two months?" I estimated.

"Interesting. Maybe it's you that blocks her, but I'm not sure why. Why did I suddenly see her on that cliff?"

Without thinking I answered her, "She was alone."

Her eyes darted to Bella. "What? I knew it! You were trying to hurt yourself!"

"I was not!" Bella shouted. "I wanted to see Edward!"

I reeled back like she'd slapped me in the face. What?

"What do you mean?" Alice asked.

Bella crumpled in on herself and choked back a sob. She jumped up and rushed to me, trying to wrap her arms around my body.

"No! Don't touch me right now!" I was shaking violently. I leapt over the railing and dashed toward the woods. Bella started running after me, but both Sam and Alice yelled at her to stop.

"JAKE!" I heard her scream as my jeans hit the ground. My shirt didn't make it though. My body burst into wolf form and the black shreds fluttered behind me as I ran.

I howled in pain and I ran through the woods. I cursed myself for thinking things were changing. **She** had kissed **me**! I was a fool. A complete fool. My paws dug into the moist ground and I dodged and weaved through the forest. I snarled as I ran.

Sam phased in long enough to assure me he'd stay with Bella. I ignored him, I was too furious with her at the moment, but I was sure later I'd thank him.

I kept running in circles around La Push, running, running, running. The pounding of my paws, and the chuffing of my breath out my nose were the sounds I focused on. I don't know how long I ran for but I ran until I was too exhausted to take another step. I lay on the forest floor and fell asleep.

When I woke, it was night, but I had no idea what time it was. I stood, shaking out my fur and ran toward my home. I growled lightly when I saw her truck in the yard, but I was too worn out to fight. I found a pair of shorts hanging on the railing and pulled them on, before going in through the laundry room.

Neither Bella nor my dad were aware that I was home, and I felt like a little bit of a jerk for eavesdropping, but decided for tonight, I was okay with that.

"Billy, I feel awful. It came out so wrong. He's furious with me and he's going to think I don't really care about him."

"Don't worry, Bella. He knows how much you care about him." I scoffed. Whatever.

"I basically told him I wanted to kill myself, but that's not what I meant. I have been an idiot. I don't know how to fix this."

"Why don't you start with explaining it to him?"

"And say what? When I did stupid things, I could see visions of Edward? Ugh. It sounds so stupid even to me! Jake will never forgive me for saying that." Yep, you're right, Bells.

"But, Jake has helped me so much. I kissed him last night, did he tell you?" I could see her face turn bright red through the little window on the door, and she covered her face with her hands.

"You did? No, he didn't mention it." I don't kiss and tell, _thank you very much_.

"I felt like I was ready to move on finally. That jump was a farewell to Edward in a sense. I didn't realize it when I jumped, but after Jake pulled me out of the water, it was like my loose screws had been tightened. He is amazing, but you know that," she whispered.

That was my cue to make some noise and go in and fix things with her. I leaned over and opened the screen door and let it slam loudly.

"Jake's back, Bella. You should talk to him. Tell him everything, I think he'll surprise you." I heard Dad say he was going to head over to Old Quil's. His phone started making short beeps, so I knew he was texting someone for a ride.

"Dad, I'm home!" I called out trying to be casual. I looked straight at Bella and could tell by her puffy eyes and red nose that she had been crying.

"Hey, Jake! I'm heading to Old Quil's for poker. Charlie's on his way to get me. Don't wait up," he called out.

"Don't let him steal all your pennies again," I laughed, tightly.

He muttered something about the cheating old shit and went out onto the porch.

I walked to the cabinet for a glass and opened the fridge for the pitcher of water. Slowly, I drank it, delaying the conversation Bella and I needed to have. I knew she was regretful and she was here at my house waiting for me. So that was a good sign, I was sure.

But the words rang out in my head without my permission, over and over. _I wanted to see Edward!_


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Rated M

Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer. No beta and I didn't proof it all that well. If you see any glaring errors, send me a PM and I'll get to it. Thanks for reading!

"Jake? Can we talk now, please?" Bella pleaded softly. I had drained the water pitcher slowly, glass by glass. When it was empty, I looked at it, wondering how I would be able to stall any longer.

When I looked at Bella, her watery eyes bored into mine, begging without words.

"Can we sit out in the garage?" I asked her, knowing that it would be better for me to keep my hands busy. I turned and headed out the door, not waiting for her answer. I could hear her behind me so I knew she was coming. As I rounded the side of the house, the headlights from Charlie's cruiser shined across us. I casually waved to the older men and continued toward the garage. I slid the big door open and closed it after Bella walked through. Without speaking, she went to the old beat up couch and sat down.

"Will you let me explain?" she asked, fiddling with the loose thread hanging from the end of her shirt. She couldn't even look at me. I swiveled around and grabbed a random wrench off the tool bench and popped the hood of the Rabbit. I started glancing around aimlessly, waiting for Bella to spill. I could hear her exhale loudly before she finally started talking.

"I'll take your silence as a yes," she snipped. "There's not a nice way to explain my hallucinations of Edward. I realized how stupid it sounds once I said it out loud to Billy, but it's why I did those things. It started with a motorcycle ride with some strange guy in Port Angeles."

I stood up straight and stared at her. A strange guy in PA? The wrench dropped from my hand making a metallic clank when it hit something on the floor. She stopped talking and looked at me. Her face looked surprised. She was surprised that I was unhappy with this news. I decided that I didn't want to break my car, so I pulled the stack of milk crates over and sat down.

"Anyway," she continued, "when I was on the back, a hallucination of Edward appeared telling me I was basically stupid for riding the motorcycle. So I thought if I did these dangerous things, I could see him again."

"Motorcycles and cliff-diving?" I sputtered out, putting the pieces together. "So when you wanted to feel alive and you kissed me, was it _him_ you were imagining? You thought if you could do those things and see him, you could find something new to replace him?" I jumped up, suddenly furious at my thoughts. I whipped around and glared at her, waiting for her response.

"Of course not, Jake! Come on! I was an idiot. He doesn't care about me! He's not coming back. You heard what Alice said."

"So, it's okay now? You can settle for me then?" I strode to the door and pushed it open, breathing in the cold night air. The forest was calling to me and I wanted to run. But I couldn't. I had to settle things with her once and for all. Reluctantly, I turned around to face her and realized she was much closer than I thought.

"Settle for you? Is that what you think? What the heck, Jake? I told you last night, **you** make me feel alive. Alive! I have felt dead inside since Edward and his family left me. He left me in the woods like I didn't matter! Like I was a piece of trash that didn't need to be found!" she shrieked. "Jacob Black, I kissed you because I wanted to. Because I am terrified that I will be broken forever and my heart will never heal! Is that so hard to understand?"

She was infuriating.

"Do you understand at all how badly it hurts me to hear that you pretty much used me to see Edward? That hurts. I'll get over it, but you may as well have shoved a crowbar through my heart, Bells. I told you, we don't need to make any long-term decisions here. But I need to know. Do you or do you not want to try being in a relationship with me? Do you or do you not want to date me? I'm going to be honest, I can't even consider dating someone else. Nor could I stand it if you dated someone else. If we try and we decide we're better as friends-fine. Friends, it is." I stopped myself and waited for her to answer.

At first, she stood silent, staring at me and her eyes shifting away and back again. Her inability to give me a quick direct answer made me shift back and forth on my feet. I made my way back over to the milk crates and sat down, feeling resigned. It was over before it started.

My elbows rested on my knees and my face was covered by my hands. I focused on my breathing-in and out, in and out. Two hands cupped around my head, gently lifting it up. I bent my neck to look up at her. Her hands gently stroked over my hair and my face. She tilted my chin up further and I looked into those eyes I loved so much. They were beautiful and soulful. My focus shifted back and forth between her eyes as I prepared myself for the words that would shatter my heart.

"Look, I'm not so great at this teenager impulsivity thing, okay? I've been a moron about things, especially after Edward left. Maybe I've been more of a teenager than I realized. But, I told you I would try and I meant it. I will take things one day at a time. I can't promise you all happy roses and I can barely think about the idea of dating one person, so I refuse to think about dating anyone else. I don't think I'm ready for a 'serious relationship,' Jake." She looked in my eyes, not wavering for a moment. "Will you go on a date with me?" she asked, quietly.

I wrapped my arms around her waist and hugged her. Somehow, I managed to knock us both over. I held her body close to mine, absorbing the impact of the hard dirt floor of the garage. I panted as I tried to catch my breath. That shit hurt. Staring up at the ceiling, I didn't move. I noticed Bella hadn't either. Once I was breathing normally again, I glanced at her face. She was watching me, clearly concerned. I gave her a half smile.

"Are you okay?" she asked. I nodded.

"Well, I never expected to knock a guy on his back when I asked him out," she chuckled. Then, she turned beet red when she noticed how she was sitting astride my stomach, her perfect butt pushed against me. I urged her up before things became embarrassing and stood in front of her. She hugged me and I squeezed her back. She mumbled something, so I leaned back and asked her what she said.

"I need to breathe, too," she joked.

"Sorry." Whoops. It was easy to forget my strength when I was in an awkward teen moment.

I let go of her and walked over to the wrench I had dropped early. I dusted it off and hung it on its peg on the wall. I grabbed another tool and walked over to the front of the Rabbit, looking under the hood. We sat in comfortable silence, like we usually did. I worked on the car and Bella flipped through the magazines Embry left on the floor.

"What the…" I heard Bella whisper. I glanced over to see her holding a magazine up and examining it closely. Then my eyes shifted to the cover of the magazine and I felt my face heat up in a red blaze. I tried to pretend like I hadn't seen her looking up close at a center fold. The socket wrench I was using dropped down into the engine and I cursed. Hopefully, it didn't hit anything on its way down. I backed up and crawled under the car to dig the wrench out carefully.

When I started to pull my body back out from under the car, I noticed the magazine dangling in plain view. I about choked at the picture. Of course, Embry would leave such a magazine in plain sight. I didn't need any mental imagery, I had plenty imagination. I finished my way out and sat up, debating what to say.

"Is this what guys really want?" she asked, sounding grossed out. She turned the magazine back and looked at it again. I chuckled a little as she pulled it closer to really examine it.

"Not all guys. Not me," I assured her, watching as the blush slowly left her face.

"Good, because that's…" she looked again, her forehead wrinkling, trying to find the words. "I don't know what to say, but don't ever expect me to do _that_ anywhere."

"Give me that," I said, worried about marring her innocence and threw it away in the trash barrel outside. "You can blame that on Embry."

She smiled and went back to the couch looking for something that wouldn't make her want to bleach her eyeballs. Somehow an issue of Better Homes and Gardens got left behind, so she picked it up and started flipping through the magazine. Quickly, she shut it and looked back at the cover to read the title again. Instead it said, _Better Hoes and Gardens_. I knew because I had specifically told Embry to take that crap home. I marched over and plucked it out of her fingers and handed her the newest issue of Auto Trader before dumping that one in the garbage as well.

"So, when are we going on this date? You never told me. I don't want to double book myself on my, oh so busy social calendar," I laughed, trying to change the mood.

"Well, tomorrow is Saturday. Would it be too awkward to go out then?" she asked me, turning that beautiful shade of red again.

"I have to patrol tonight. So, tomorrow is perfect. You're going to pick me up, right? Do you mind coming in and meeting my dad? He doesn't like it when I go on dates and he doesn't get to meet the girl," I teased her.

"Hardy, har, har, Jake," she smiled. "I can pick you up around 6? Then we can get something to eat and maybe do something fun?"

"Sounds perfect. I'm done out here. Want to go back inside? I need to clean up and eat something before I have to patrol." She stood and walked next to me back to the house.

"Want me to make you something?" she offered.

"Nah. I'll just make a sandwich and chips." She nodded and walked ahead of me into the kitchen.

Bella took out her phone and texted Charlie asking his plans for the night. He said he was getting his butt kicked at poker with Old Quil and Billy. He said he'd be bringing Billy home around midnight if she wanted to follow him home.

She stood watching me as I ate. As always, I was starving, so a regular sandwich was about 4 bites for me. I smiled as she shook her head and went into the living room. The TV flickered on and she settled on some cooking show.

My dinner was finished, so I headed into the shower. I smiled like a fool when I thought about the fact that the next night I'd be on a date with Bella Swan. It was pretty cool, even if I had to say so myself.

When I came out from the bathroom, Bella's eyes darted my way. I noticed they were glued to my chest and I stopped to give her a chance to stare. She kept on staring, without blinking or talking, so I ran my hands suggestively down my body. Quickly, she looked away acting as if she hadn't seen a thing. I laughed.

She picked up the remote when I sat down on the couch. She handed it to me, but I just placed it on the coffee table next to my feet. I didn't care what she watched, I was going to catch a nap before I headed out.

Bella leaned against my shoulder and I lifted my arm so she could snuggle in close. I fell asleep with her under my arm. It was Billy and Charlie's loud mouths that woke me shortly after midnight. Charlie seemed like he shouldn't be driving, so I told him so.

"Oh, Jake, I didn't drive. Don't worry. Quil gave us a ride home. I'll pick up the cruiser tomorrow." He saluted the door and stumbled into Becca and Rachel's old room, crashing on one of the beds without saying another word.

"You sleep in my bed, Bells. I'll be home around 6 or 6:30. Depends on when Sam lets me go." I hesitated as I leaned down toward her. Should I kiss her forehead or not? The question was answered for me when she placed a light kiss on the corner of my mouth. I turned the rest of the way and kissed her fully on the mouth.

"See you soon," she said, as she stood and walked into my bedroom, closing the door behind her. I groaned internally as I thought about her in my bed without me.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Rated M

Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer.

Charlie was bright-eyed and bushy tailed when I walked in the next morning. I wasn't expecting him to be sitting at my kitchen table sipping coffee and reading the newspaper. In fact, I didn't even know we got the paper. Where did that come from?

"Good morning, Jake? Good run?" he asked.

I nearly swallowed my tongue. Bella walked out of the bathroom, smiling at me. She was wearing the clothes she slept in and I covertly checked her out.

"I told him how you like to run in the mornings sometimes," Bella looked at me meaningfully.

I took the cue and looked at Charlie, "It was good, Charlie. You should go with me sometime. Get your heart pumping."

"Sounds like a good way to get hurt. Thanks anyway," Charlie responded going back to his newspaper.

When I glanced over at Bella, I saw she was trying to text on her phone without anyone noticing. Her fingers flew over the phone as she texted back and forth. My curiosity won out so I edged closer to her to look at her phone. Alice, of course! I rolled my eyes as I walked away. I sat down at the table with Charlie and poured a bowl of cereal. The look on his face made me stop eating for a moment and stare back at him.

"Would a trough be a better dish for you?" he said straight-faced.

Bella started laughing and I smiled, eating the rest of the cereal. I imagined a trough of Lucky Charms and realized that might be too much cereal for even me. Although, for a week it might be right.

"Are you giving my son a hard time in here?" my dad said as he rolled into the room. I was surprised to see that he was all freshened up and looking ready to go fishing.

"Where are you headed off to?" I asked him.

"Where else? It's Saturday! Hitting the fishing holes here with Charlie, why else would he be up getting over a fresh hangover for the weekend?" he joked with his friend.

"Hangover? Who's hungover? I had one beer last night," Charlie answered defensively.

"Try one gallon of beer!" Billy retorted, pouring coffee in his travel mug.

"Dad!" Bella balked. "I can't believe you guys. You aren't teenagers anymore, you know."

"Teenagers? You better not be drinking any beer! Either one of you," her dad responded giving us both an evil stare. I started shaking my head side to side. Wasn't gonna happen. Beer was disgusting-especially when you had heightened senses and could smell the stuff even stronger.

"You going to be ready soon, Chief?" Billy interrupted the other man's speech.

"Soon? I'm waiting on you to get all primped up!"

"Then let's go. I'm ready and the fish are getting away," Billy said, rolling his way to the door. After Charlie walked out, he turned and winked at me. "Have a good day, Bella and Jake!"

"Um, that was weird," Bella muttered. She sat at the table watching me eat my second bowl of cereal. Finally, she gave up on trying to hide her phone and set it on the table texting still.

"What does she want?" I asked.

"To take me out for lunch," she said.

I laughed and ended up choking on a bite of cereal. I walked over to the sink as I coughed bits of cereal out and blew my nose into a paper towel. Cereal vs. Nose-it wasn't fun.

"What's so funny about that?" she asked me, looking kind of grossed out at the little incident at the sink.

"Why would a vampire take you to lunch?" I wondered, turning around to look at her. I gave up on the cereal, so I grabbed the bowl and poured the wet mix down the disposal.

"It's weird, isn't it?" she commented. I could hear her tapping out a response and I silently hoped she would tell her no.

"Now, she wants to take me shopping instead. She said she could pick me up at the treaty line around 10."

"Okay. I'm going to sleep anyway. I'm beat after patrol."

"Well, what about our date tonight?" she asked softly.

I walked over closer to her and lightly grabbed her ponytail, tugging it as I ran my hand down her hair.

"Oh, I'll be ready for that," I whispered to the top of her head before planting a kiss there and walking away. I could hear her heart beat thud a little as I stepped away from her. It made me smile.

A long, hot shower later, I stood in front of the mirror twenty minutes later. I know, 20 minutes isn't that long, but usually it only takes me 3 or 4 minutes to clean off. I inspected my face in the mirror and saw that I missed a couple of spots shaving my face. So I ran the razor over my face, getting the last few rebel hairs. I nicked my chin and groaned as I washed the blood from my face. I wrapped the towel tighter around my waist and walked out of the steaming room.

Without thinking about it, I made my way to the laundry room behind the house. I grabbed fresh boxers and cut off sweatpants before going back in the house. A gasp from the kitchen caught my attention and I turned to see Bella. Her red face turned to the cabinet, lightly banging it against the wood.

"Are you okay?" I asked her.

"Yep," she squealed. I walked over to her, but glanced down to make sure I hadn't accidentally exposed myself to her. The towel was covering everything important and she'd seen me without a shirt plenty of times.

"What is it, Bells?" I asked her.

I heard something vibrating behind her so I walked closer. She was obviously hiding something as she spun and faced me, her hands remaining behind her back.

"Jake! You're bleeding. It's running down your face!" she looked shocked. I wasn't concerned.

"I cut myself shaving. But I'm fine. It's probably healed already. What's behind your back, Bells?" I crept closer to her.

"Nothing!" she insisted. I reached behind her and felt something in her hands. It felt like a cell phone but why would she hide her phone from me like that? I heard her ringtone sound from the table and looked back at her confused.

"Are you looking at my phone?" I asked her, pretty dang surprised.

"No! I was not looking at your phone. It kept vibrating over and over while you were in the shower. So I picked it up to see if it was important."

I smiled widely at her. She was so busted.

"Uh huh. Is that so? So was it important?" I asked.

"I don't know. You have a passcode and I couldn't see anything. Then you came out of the bathroom." She had turned an even deeper shade of red. I was sure if she didn't calm down soon, she'd pass out from lack of oxygen to the rest of her body.

"Hand it over," I told her. I swiped the screen and read the group message from the pack. There was going to be a bonfire later and we were invited. Heck no. I had a date with Bella Swan.

"Everything okay?" she asked.

"Yep," I replied, giving her a taste of her own medicine.

"Anyhow, don't you have some shopping to get ready for while I take a nap? You have to take a wolf with you, so you'd better figure out fast if you want Embry or Jared."

She looked at me and without hesitation replied, "Embry. By the way, wipe that disgusting blob of blood off your face."

I rubbed a paper towel over my face and texted the group to let them know Bella and I had other plans, but I would let Sam know those later on. Then I told Embry to come over to spend the day with Bella and Alice at the mall.

When Embry came in, I gave him a lecture on not letting Bella leave his sight no matter what. Bella huffed and said she was shopping with a vampire, so she didn't need 2 babysitters. I scoffed and said Alice did NOT count as she was the enemy.

"I mean it, Embry! I will kick your butt if anything happens to her!" I called out as they climbed into Bella's truck. When she turned away, Embry held his arm out the window, sending me the one finger salute. Jerk.

I went to bed and slept for hours. As much as I wanted to worry about Bella, I knew Embry would keep her safe. He was my best friend and knew how much I loved that girl. I couldn't wait to have an official date with her. It was hard to believe.

Bella picked me up promptly at 6 o'clock in the Red Monster as I decided to name it. She was dressed comfortably, but looked beautiful. Her blue jeans were snug fitting and instead of her usual hoodie, she had on a sweater thingy. It was a pretty green color and the shirt under it was the same color as her sweater. She also wore a necklace with little beads and a matching bracelet.

"You look pretty," I complimented her honestly. "Where are we going? I've got to let Sam know."

"I was thinking we could either go to Port Angeles for a movie or walk on the beach on First Beach."

"Well, Port A is far, but there's a thing on the beach tonight, so I don't really want to go there." I imagined how our first date would be awkward with the rest of the pack there.

"Oh," she said.

"Oh? What do you mean by 'oh'?" I asked.

"You don't want to go where people will see us together?" she breathed out.

"No, honey. No, that's not it at all. I don't want the guys to be interfering. Which they would to no end." I reached out and wrapped my fingers around her knee. She flinched involuntarily and her heart sped up for a few seconds.

"What do you think then?" she asked, glancing over at me.

"There's this place. You might like it. Just a little restaurant on the res. They serve all kinds of different food. The Aterea's run the grocery store right next to it."

"Okay. If you want to," she agreed. Internally, I groaned. She was too compliant. I would have to get her to come up with her own date once we caught this red headed vamp and killed her.

"Cool. Let's do it," I grinned at her.

She drove us to the restaurant and we walked in together. It was open seating, so I chose a small booth in the back where we'd have a little bit of privacy. Bella looked at the menu carefully, but I knew exactly what I wanted. Mrs. Aterea might be Quileute but she made an awesome Mexican lasagna. I got it whenever I ate here.

"Hi Jake!" she greeted me from the kitchen doors. I waved back and asked Bella if she knew what she wanted to eat.

"Oh, I'm not sure. I'm thinking I should either get tomato soup and grilled cheese or the veggie burger."

I visibly gagged. Veggie burger? Why would you cook veggies and put them on a bun instead of a delicious hamburger?

"What?" she laughed. "Are their veggie burgers gross or something?"

"I have no idea. I wouldn't eat it unless it was the last thing on Earth!"

"Not everybody can eat like you and still look like you, you know." She looked over my body and blushed.

"Oh, and what pray tell is that supposed to mean?" I stared at her. I knew it was making her uncomfortable, but she was pretty much admitting I had a good body. I knew I did, but I wanted to hear it from her.

"Give me a break, Jake. You know exactly what I mean. All ripped up and fit. Gosh! I have to watch what I eat so I stay thin but I also don't want to coat my arteries with cholesterol." She stared at me pointedly. I hung my head a little. While I may be able to eat whatever I wanted, regular humans could not. I thought of Harry.

"You know, Harry lived his life to the fullest. He was a very happy person. He might have lived longer if he ate better, but that wouldn't have made him happy. You can eat whatever you want to eat. As long as it isn't bugs or something really gross, I won't say a word. But I will say that you are beautiful and if you ate some junk food every now and then, it would be okay."

Bella looked down and I could tell I embarrassed her with my compliment. I reached my hand out and grasped her elbow. I squeezed a little to tell her it was okay and she looked back up at me. Her eyes danced back and forth between mine and I felt entranced by her. A throat clearing next to us caught my attention.

It was Quil. He wasn't looking directly at me when he asked what we would like. Bella smiled at him warmly but he barely listened to her.

"I guess he's still mad at you, huh?" she asked.

"You could say that," I answered. We all wonder if and when Quil would change. He had the bloodlines. For my friend's sake, I hoped he didn't. I didn't want him shackled to this life.

We waited until our food was served, but instead of Quil bringing it out it was Mrs. Aterea.

"Jake, I always know if you're here, I better start making a huge pan of Mexican lasagna! I hope you like it." She smiled at Bella and told her to enjoy the grilled cheese and soup, but to try a little of my dinner. Bella nodded and said she would.

After Joy walked away, I held up a small forkful for Bella to try. "Come on, you said you'd give this whole teenager thing a try. Eating crappy food is a complete teenager move." She rolled her eyes, but reached out for the fork. I pulled my hand back.

"Open up," I teased. She rolled her eyes again but opened her mouth. I put the food in her mouth and pulled the fork back when she closed her lips. She chewed and swallowed.

"That's good. But I wouldn't put so much cumin in it, and I'd add some fresh green peppers, it'd really kick it up," Bella continued on about how she would improve the dish. I really liked it but if she could make it better, I'd be willing to try it.

"Let me know when you make it and I'll be over! This stuff is so good." I continued to shovel the food in and watched as Bella took dainty spoonfuls of soup and nibbled the sandwich.

"What do you think about renting a movie and watching it at my house? Billy's gone at the beach for the bonfire for Harry. We'd have the place to ourselves for a while."

"Harry's bonfire? Why aren't you there?" she looked at me like I was crazy.

"He didn't want a big thing. The pack is there but they were leaving after lighting the fire for the older folk. Then they were going down the beach to have their own bonfire. It really isn't a big deal. My dad knows where I am."

"But Harry was an elder, right? Shouldn't there be some big ceremony or something?"

"Maybe, but he didn't want it. He always said he wanted people to have a fish fry and a can of Vitamin R when he died." I shrugged. Seemed like a good idea to me.

"Huh," was all Bella came up with.

She finally finished her food as I sat there talking comfortably with her. I noticed little mannerisms I hadn't noticed before. How she covered her mouth when she talked with a little food in it or how she wiped off her spoon after she set it down.

I paid the check and we left in her truck. I drove it to a gas station that had an automated movie rental box and we got out together. We looked through the choices and found an older action movie. Bella used her card to rent it and we went back to my house.

It didn't seem that different to be watching a movie with Bella on my couch, but tonight there seemed to be a little bit of tension I hadn't noticed before. Was this Bella changing? I decided that first official date or not, I would act as I always did. So I put the DVD in the player and plopped down on the couch, wrapping my arm around her shoulder. At first she was tense but as the movie played on, she relaxed into my side. It was as comfortable as it always was. I decided to test the dating waters and slid my arm from around her shoulder to her waist. This caused her to lean closer to me.

Nice.

I squeezed her waist lightly, but kept it there. She put her hand on my leg. My heart skipped a half beat, I was so excited. I put my left hand over hers. Bella leaned just a little more into me and it caused her sweater to rise up a bit. I took the opportunity to ghost my fingertips across the exposed skin. Bella shivered a little.

"I need to use the restroom," she announced, jumping up off the couch. I chuckled quietly, knowing I had rocked the little boat. I hadn't tipped it, she wasn't leaving, but I had rocked the boat.

Bella came back and I could see that she had splashed water on her face because the hairs around her face were damp. I didn't say anything, but I was happy to see that she had some kind of reaction to my touch.

"After the movie, I should probably head home. Do you know who's patrolling tonight?" she asked. Damn, I didn't want her to leave at all. Ever.

"Um, I think Sam and Paul are out tonight. I patrolled last night, so I'm off tonight."

"Okay," she said, sounding a little disappointed. Disappointed? Did she want me to be outside her window?

For the rest of the movie, I remained silent. I couldn't have remembered what happened at the end of that movie if my life depended on it. My mind was all over the place. Should I take Bella home? Should I stay outside her house? With her in the house? Would Charlie be home after Harry's bonfire or would he be crashing somewhere?

Then my mind went to first date worries. Should I kiss her good night? Did she want me to? I didn't know. It was frustrating. I needed Bella to make some decisions. Then I had Alice Cullen to worry about. If she was there at Bella's house, it would ruin everything.

"Jake, what did I tell you about thinking so loud?" she said. I leaned toward her, her eyes pulling me in a like a homing beacon. My eyes looked down at her lips. She pressed them together but didn't turn away.

I took a deep breath. "I'm going to kiss you, okay?" I said to her before I leaned in and placed a kiss on her soft lips. This kiss was just as sweet as the one a few nights ago. I continued kissing her, lightly smacking my lips on hers before ever so gently nibbling her lower lip. She opened her mouth and I took the invitation, deepening the kiss.

My head and my body were going at two different speeds. I wanted to slow things down, so I moved my lips from hers and kissed her cheek.

"Thank you. That was amazing," I breathed into her ear.

Her phone chirped and she picked it up to read a text message.

"It's Charlie. He wants to know what time I'll be getting home. I guess they are having a great time celebrating Harry's life."

"Are you sure you need to go?" I whispered. "We can watch another movie."

_Please say yes, please say yes, _I thought.

"Sure, sure," she answered. I gave her a huge smile and pecked her lips before getting up. I listed off a few movies we had, but I didn't really care what movie we watched. I had no plans on watching anything but her.

She told me whatever I wanted was fine. So I put in one of my sisters' old movies, some romance they used to gush over called A Walk to Remember or something like that. The movie started and she smiled remembering having seen it.

"Oh, Jake, this is a sad one. You're going to regret it. Better get a box of tissues," she said.

I shrugged. If she was sad, she could cry on me. I smiled, this sounded like a great idea already.

The movie played on and as the girl talked about dying, I realized I was an idiot. This wasn't the kind of movie you made out while watching. I did end up getting those tissues and not just for Bella, for me too.

After it was finally over, we sat in silence. I pondered what life would be like with Bella. Could I go on without her, like the kid in the movie? I didn't know, but I knew I didn't even want to think about it. I grabbed her sniffling form and pulled it onto my lap. She wrapped her arms around my neck and buried it there. I didn't move and for a while, neither did she. It took me a couple of times, but I finally figured out she was kissing my neck. I leaned my head back against the couch, enjoying the feeling of her lips on my skin.

She kissed from one side to the other and then up to my cheek. She kissed me once, twice and then I quickly turned my head and planted one of her. I resumed the passionate kiss that we started earlier. My tongue lightly touched hers every now and then. It was really good, not like a sloppy wet one.

Bella put one firm kiss on my lips and sat back. She glanced away, with a smirk on her face but looked back at me.

"So, good first date?" she asked.

"Great first date," I answered.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Rated M

**Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer. Thanks so much for reading! I know I haven't updated this one in a bit. Real life-well, it's been real. That's for sure. Every day, I say, it can't get worse. Then it does. I've finally realized, it could be a whole lot worse and I'm thankful that it's not.**

After my first official date with Bella, it was like I was high on life. I smiled nonstop for at least 24 hours. My dad swore I was smiling in my sleep. It was a great feeling. Not long after our little make-out session, my dad and Charlie came home from the beach. Charlie had managed to have one beer and wanted Bella to follow him home.

I thought back to when I walked her out to the truck and kissed her good night. I was pretty sure I could hear the sound of Charlie's jaw popping open. I chuckled at the memory. Bella and I talked about her shopping experience with Alice. Mostly she was content to see her friend, but not very happy at all the clothes Alice tried to buy her. She admitted that the sweater set she wore on their date, Alice bought for her. I always worried about her, especially with the pushy bloodsucker, but she insisted that she liked it.

It was Sunday and other than patrol later, I didn't have any plans. I figured I could head out to the garage to tinker around. As I stepped out on the front stoop, I saw Quil walking by on the road. He glared at me and I watched him go by. I could tell he was getting bigger. It saddened me.

Loping off to the garage, I tried to keep my thoughts from darkening over Quil's impending change. Sure we needed help. The patrol schedule was grueling, even with Leah and Seth. Leah seemed shocked into silence. She'd been the world's biggest bitch right before her change, and now, she was quiet. She ran, she trained, and then she went home. It was kind of scary her current state of detachment. Seth was sad for his family, but seemed to take to the whole wolf thing. He was surprised the legends were true, but he simply accepted them.

I decided that today I'd work on the motorcycles. They always needed tweaking from being ridden around, especially with Bella crashing them every 500 feet. This got me on the track of thinking why she ever rode the bikes to begin with. I took a deep breath in and slowly exhaled. Instead, I decided to focus on last night's amazing kiss. The way her lips felt against mine, and how it was a dream come true.

While working away, I heard the thunderous rumble of the Red Monster and grinned wide. She was coming to see me. Not that she hadn't come by unannounced before, it's that we were in uncharted territory now. We'd have to talk soon to figure things out, or I'd let them play out. I kind of liked that idea. It didn't give her a chance to draw any lines. I heard the truck door shut, so I walked out of the Taj.

I chuckled as I watched Bella carefully take each step as if she would fall on her face any second. Poor unbalanced girl probably would. Maybe she needed glasses or something. Huh. I'd have to ask her about it. I whistled at her to get her attention. When she looked my way, my heart thumped at the smile on her face.

"Hey, Jake!" she responded, turning to walk my way.

"Hey, heartbreaker. How are you?" I asked. As she got closer, I walked up to her and kissed her lightly. She blushed a little but didn't turn away.

"I was bored, so I thought I'd come see what you were doing. I tried calling, but you didn't answer. Glad you're home."

"You're always welcome here, you know that. Even if I'm not home, you can go in and make yourself comfortable."

"Yeah, I know," she whispered. I noticed she was fidgeting with her hands in her hoodie pockets. She looked up at me shyly. I wondered what was going through her mind. I grabbed her arm and pulled her after me into the garage. I wasn't too dirty even though I'd been doing some bike maintenance. Bella asked what I was doing so I explained I was fixing up a little bit of damage from the last time she laid the bike down.

"I'm not so great at balancing on the bike, but I'm getting a little better don't you think?" she asked.

"Definitely," I grinned. "You haven't broken anything lately."

She laughed, tucking some loose hair behind her ear. "Want to take me out riding today?"

"Sure," I said. "Let me get this back together." I finished wiping the parts off and screwed everything back in place. I stood up, wiping my hands off and noticed that Bella was laying on her side watching me from the old couch. I couldn't help the quick flash in my mind of her laying exactly like that but completely naked. I shook the picture from my head and told her I was ready to go.

That morning, we rode through the mud and rain. By the time we returned to my house, we were covered in mud and soaking wet. Bella had kept up and even raced ahead a few times, allowing her tires to spray mud back at me. We parked the bikes next to the garage and went around the back of the house. I grabbed the hose, ready to spray off the worst of the mess.

"What are you doing with that?" she asked, backing away.

"Getting ready to rinse the mud off?" I answered, unsure of the reason behind her reaction.

"Well, you spray yourself and I'll go in the house," she said, trying to march past me.

"Oh, I don't think so, honey. You'll get mud all over the house. Then I'll spend hours trying to clean it up."

"I will not!" she huffed at me. I smiled and turned the hose on.

"Jacob! Jacob, don't you dare!" she yelled, running back. In typical Bella fashion, she tripped on air and fell on her butt. I squeezed the sprayer and started hosing her off, her screams loud and shrill.

"Jake! I will never let you kiss me again if you don't stop that now!" she retorted, her face red with anger. I let go of the hose and backed off. She stood and grabbed hold of it, spraying the rest of the mud from her body. Slowly, I started towards her and somehow she managed to surprise me when she shot the water right in my face.

"Oh, it's on now!" I grabbed her body and held her against me, spraying us both with the cold water. It didn't bother me, but she squealed and shrieked. Finally satisfied that I'd gotten most of the mud off of us, I turned her around and held her close. Her body started to shiver, so I pulled her toward the laundry room and grabbed a blanket off the top shelf, wrapping it around her.

"Dry off and then get in the warm shower," I told her.

"What about you?" she stuttered out.

"I'm fine. One hundred and eight over here, remember?"

She quickly rubbed herself down and went into the house. I heard the bathroom door close and the shower start, so I stripped my clothes off in the laundry room and tossed them in the washer. On the way to the bedroom, I wondered how smart it was to be walking around naked in the house. I stopped and listened and could hear Bella muttering in the bathroom about trying to get wet jeans off.

I went into my room and got some dry clothes and stopped outside the bathroom. "Do you need some help, Bells?" I smiled, knowing she was probably sputtering and blushing.

"Ugh. Yes, I can't get my jeans off," she grunted. My eyes bugged out. What did she just say?

The lock turned and the door opened. She stood there looking at me, looking as frustrated as ever. I looked back at her with what I was sure was a look of shock.

"Are you going to help me or not?" she snapped.

"Yeah, yeah. What do you want me to do?"

She growled. I smiled, it was cute. She closed the toilet lid and sat down. She took a towel and laid it over her lap.

"Close your eyes for a second," she commanded. I did so and waited further instructions.

When she told me to open them, I realized she pulled her jeans down as far as she could get them and laid the towel over her lap to cover her underwear. I was both disappointed and relieved. I knelt down and started working one leg of her jeans from her body. They were stuck to her like glue. Eventually I got them off and stood up.

"Can you get it from here?" I asked, a little unsure. I glanced at her shirt. It seemed stuck to her as well.

"I think so," she answered, quietly.

I left the bathroom, but waited outside in case she needed me. As much as I would love to see her without clothes on, I didn't think she was ready for that yet. I heard her fight and grumble but eventually she got in the shower. I hoped there was warm water left for her. I went out to her truck to see what kind of clothes I could find for her. She had a backpack on the seat, so I unzipped it and looked inside. There were clothes in it. I brought it in to the house and called out to her in the shower. She said to leave it outside the door.

While she finished, I went into the kitchen and made some sandwiches for lunch. She came out of the bathroom and sat at her place. I smiled to myself because she and Charlie both had seats at our table.

"I've got to head out for patrol in an hour," I said, still stuffing chips and a sandwich into my mouth. She nodded.

"Okay. I'll go home when you leave," she replied.

"What are you doing next Friday?" I asked her.

"I don't have any plans yet. Why?"

"I thought we might go out on our second date," I smiled at her.

"Well, Jake, that's almost a week away. I'm not sure teenagers make plans like that," she smirked.

I laughed loudly at how she turned my words against me. "So?" I asked.

"It's a date," she grinned back.


	7. Epilogue

Epilogue

**Five Years Later**

I stood at the head of the circle around the bonfire. I looked around and waited for Bella's arrival. The ceremony that we had decided to have after talking with my dad extensively and had planned for months was beginning. I was dressed in dark gray dress slacks and my chest was adorned with symbols painted on by my dad and Old Quil. I smiled as I made eye contact with each of the pack members around the circle. I noticed they were all dressed in costume. I bit back a laugh at what was in store. We had a bit of a surprise in store.

A drum beat started a slow rhythm and I turned toward the parking lot. Bella was coming and I scanned the parking lot looking for her. She was coming but she was being blocked by the pack women. I stared so that I could see her the second they got out of the way.

When she finally broke through, I straightened my body. I swallowed past the lump in my throat. She looked beautiful. Really amazing. She had already said many times she didn't want to wear a big fancy wedding gown and looking into my tribe's past, she didn't want to wear a shredded cedar dress either. Instead, she was wearing a dress I didn't think possible. She was both pretty and sexy. It was an off-white dress. It stopped above her knees and was sleeveless. When she moved, I could see it twinkle in the light. When she glanced my way, her eyes shined brightly. I had to squeeze my eyes shut to keep them from welling with tears.

I thought back to that night in the truck. Things could have gone so differently. If they had, I might not be the one she was walking toward. What if the pixie vamp had spoken to Bella first? What if we hadn't driven away and solidified our friendship? I pushed the thoughts away. I didn't have to worry about Edward anymore. He had bowed out gracefully. One day before he left, he asked to speak with me. He told me that all he wanted was for Bella to have a happy, human life. He also told me that if we ever needed anything, anything at all to call him. Yea. Not happening!

As Bella drew closer to me, I focused all my thoughts on her. At the end of the night, she would be my wife. Mrs. Bella Black.

Billy began the evening with a retelling of the legends. He talked about the spirit warriors and all they needed in a mate. That they needed someone loving and loyal by their side. Then he began the wedding ceremony. My eyes gleamed with unshed tears during the ceremony as I promised to love and cherish Bella for the rest of my life, and she promised the same.

When I kissed her, I didn't hold back. I could hear Charlie clear his throat and many wolf whistles in the background. I stepped back from Bella.

"Sit. We have something for you," I told her.

The pack jumped up and the drums started beating again. I stepped to the side and dropped the dress pants I was wearing. Underneath, I had on basketball shorts. We started a synchronized dance. We had been practicing in secret for a month. Around the circle we danced, showing our strength and agility. When we were done, the crowd erupted with cheers and applause.

Bella stood up and smiled as I made my way to her. The music changed and I grabbed her and pulled her out onto the sand. A make-shift dance floor was made on the sand with ribbons outlining the area. A soft song started and I held Bella in my arms. We swayed side to side, smiling at each other.

The night was magical and fun. We ate tons of food and talked with what felt like the entire tribe and the majority of Forks. Eventually, the crowd started to wind down. Bella and I decided this was the perfect time to begin our honeymoon. Quietly, we said good-bye to our dads and made our way to the car. Just when I thought we escaped without the pack knowing, they jumped out with bags of rice and bubbles. The happy cheers surrounded us. As I drove away, I could hear the clanking of cans they had tied to the bumper. In the mirror, I could see someone had written "Happily Ever After" on the rear windshield.

**Two Years Even Later**

I took the package from the delivery guy and headed into the house with it. We had gotten home from the hospital about an hour ago and I promised our friends and family that if anyone even thought of ringing our doorbell, I would kick their asses. So when the doorbell rang, I was pretty pissed. The poor guy in his brown uniform stepped back when I opened the door quite angry. I calmed myself when I realized it was an unsuspecting ordinary person.

As I walked into the living room, I realized I would have to hang a sign on the front door that said, "Do Not Disturb."

"Who was it?" Bella asked quietly.

"A delivery," I told her as I carried the large box into the living room.

"Who's it from?"

"It doesn't have a name, but it came from Paris," I said, somewhat puzzled. I set it on the coffee table and Bella stood up beside me. I grabbed a knife and cut the tape open. The smell that came out of the box made me jump back and growl a little.

"Jake?" she asked, her hands freezing, unsure of what to do next.

"Let me look first," I warned. I lifted the flaps of the box and saw two wrapped gifts. One pink and one blue. I took them out and set them on the table, removing the box. The smell wasn't as strong as I thought it might be, but there was a clear vampire edge to it.

"Should I open them?" Bella asked.

Wary, I sniffed each box. Aside from a slight lingering scent of vampire, there seemed to be no other alarming smells.

"I'm sure it's fine. Go ahead," I assured her.

Bella took the card off the pink box and opened it. She smiled as she read it and handed it over to me. Inside was a nice note from each of the Cullen's, wishing us happiness with the babies. I didn't care so much but I knew how much it meant to Bella.

She tore open the wrapping paper and opened the box. Inside was a very frilly and very pink layette set. My eyes opened wide and I chuckled a little. It was definitely girly. Bella laid the pink blankets, onesies, bibs, booties and hats on the couch. Her fingers ran over each one delicately. Then she turned and began to open the blue box.

"If that's full of lace and frills, you can go ahead and through it out," I warned her.

"Jacob," she gently scolded back. "These are very nice clothes. Probably designer."

"So," I said back. She just snorted and proceeded to open the gift.

Inside was a note. Bella handed it to me without opening it. I noticed it said, "For Jake." I pulled it open and read the note, chuckling.

"What?" Bella asked.

"Pull the stuff out," I told her.

Bella pulled out the clothes and started laughing. She held up all kinds of Seattle sports clothes, bibs, hats and even a toy football.

"So what did the note say?" she asked holding her hand out.

_**Jake,**_

_**Alice tried to send designer clothes for your son. But I told her if I had a son, there was no way I would let him wear that stuff out of the house. So we talked her into these.**_

_**Congratulations on the birth of your twins,**_

_**Edward**_

"That was nice," Bella said as she looked at all of the clothes. "I'm sure Alice would've sent more if they had let her."

I carried the gifts into the babies' bedroom and sat down beside Bella on the couch. We stared silently at the babies on our laps. It was pretty amazing to be parents but even more amazing to have twins.

"I love you," I told Bella as I leaned over and gave her a kiss.

"I love you, too," she returned.

**_Thanks for reading this one. I felt like a good sappy ending for this one. I've had so much real life drama and story written drama, that I wanted to end this one simply. Imagine the real happy ending these two deserved._**


End file.
